INSIGHT-As Obama blinks on Syria, Israel, Saudis make common cause

* Both share concerns that ultimately focus on Iran'snuclear ambitions

* Israeli, Saudi leadership lobbying Washington, but mostlydiscreetly

* Before Syria, crisis in Egypt showed shared Israeli, Saudiarguments

By Jeffrey Heller and Angus McDowall

JERUSALEM/RIYADH, Sept 2 (Reuters) - If President BarackObama has disappointed Syrian rebels by deferring to Congressbefore bombing Damascus, he has also dismayed the United States'two main allies in the Middle East.

Israel and Saudi Arabia have little love for each other butboth are pressing their mutual friend in the White House to hitPresident Bashar al-Assad hard. And both do so with one eyefixed firmly not on Syria but on their common adversary - Iran.

Israel's response to Obama's surprise move to delay or evenpossibly cancel air strikes made clear that connection: lookingsoft on Assad after accusing him of killing hundreds of peoplewith chemical weapons may embolden his backers in Tehran todevelop nuclear arms, Israeli officials said. And if they do,Israel may strike Iran alone, unsure Washington can be trusted.

Neither U.S. ally is picking a fight with Obama in public.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday thatthe nation was "serene and self-confident"; Saudi ForeignMinister Prince Saud al-Faisal simply renewed a call to the"international community" to halt Assad's violence in Syria.

But the Saudi monarchy, though lacking Israel's readiness toattack Iran, can share the Jewish state's concern that neithermay now look with confidence to Washington to curb what Riyadhsees as a drive by its Persian rival to dominate the Arab world.

Last year, Obama assured Israelis that he would "always haveIsrael's back". Now Netanyahu is reassuring them they can managewithout uncertain U.S. protection against Iran, which has calledfor Israel's destruction but denies developing nuclear weapons.

"Israel's citizens know well that we are prepared for anypossible scenario," the hawkish prime minister said. "AndIsrael's citizens should also know that our enemies have verygood reasons not to test our power and not to test our might."

That may not reassure a U.S. administration which has triedto steer Netanyahu away from unilateral action against Iran thatcould stir yet more chaos in the already explosive Middle East.

Israel's state-run Army Radio was more explicit: "If Obamais hesitating on the matter of Syria," it said, "Then clearly onthe question of attacking Iran, a move that is expected to befar more complicated, Obama will hesitate much more - and thusthe chances Israel will have to act alone have increased."

Israelis contrast the "red line" Netanyahu has set for howclose Iran may come to nuclear weapons capability before Israelstrikes with Obama's "red line" on Assad's use of chemicalweapons - seemingly passed without U.S. military action so far.

"HEAD OF THE SNAKE"

Saudi Arabia, like Israel heavily dependent on the UnitedStates for arms supplies, is engaged in a historic confrontationwith Iran for regional influence - a contest shaped by theirleading roles in the rival Sunni and Shi'ite branches of Islam.

Riyadh is a prime backer of Sunni rebels fighting Assad,whose Alawite minority is a Shi'ite offshoot. It sees topplingAssad as checking Iran's ambition not just in Syria but in otherArab states including the Gulf, where it mistrusts Shi'ites inSaudi Arabia itself and in neighbouring Bahrain, Yemen and Iraq.

Saudi King Abdullah's wish for U.S. action against Iran wasmemorably contained in leaked U.S. diplomatic cables, includingone in which a Saudi envoy said the monarch wanted Washington to"cut off the head of the snake" to end Tehran's nuclear threat.

Disappointment with Obama's hesitation against Assad camethrough on Sunday in the Saudi foreign minister's remarks to theArab League in Cairo, where he said words were no longer enough.

Riyadh and its allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)risk ending up empty-handed in their latest push for U.S.backing in their campaign to rein in Iran, said Sami al-Faraj, aKuwaiti analyst who advises the GCC on security matters:

"The idea of a punishment for a crime has lost its flavour. We are on the edge of the possibility that military action maynot be conducted," he said. "Congress, for sure, ... will attachconditions to what is already going to be a limited strike. Atthe end, we as Gulf allies, may end up with nothing."

Israel does not share the Saudi enthusiasm for the Syrianrebel cause, despite its concern about Assad's role as a linkbetween Iran and Lebanese and Palestinian enemies. The presencein rebel ranks of Sunni Islamist militants, some linked to alQaeda, worries the Jewish state - though Riyadh, too, is keen tocurb al Qaeda, which calls the royal family American stooges.